Friday, April 3, 2009

Tonight on FoxNews, Sean Hannity demonstrated why only the thoughtless sheep among us would follow such a blowhard. Hannity's apoplectic conniption centered around Obama's comments during a speech in France. Hannity quoted Obama as follows:

In America, there is a failure to appreciate Europe's leading role in the world. Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive.

As presented, the statement is certainly less-than-ideal. But, this isn't the whole story! Hannity -- surprise, surprise -- failed to provide the very next sentence out of Obama's mouth, which explains the benign nature of these comments:

But in Europe, there is an anti-Americanism that is at once casual, but can also be insidious. Instead of recognizing the good that America so often does in the world, there have been times where Europeans choose to blame America for much of what is bad. On both sides of the Atlantic, these attitudes have become all too common.

After intentionally distorting Obama's comments, Hannity shamelessly declared -- read: screamed -- that he was "taken back" by Obama's comments, that he takes "offense" to these remarks, and that he is "deeply offended" and wonders why liberals "hate America."

Hannity has shamelessly distorted the nature of Obama's comments. When you read the above-provided quote in its entirety, it is quite obvious that Obama aimed to reconcile our differences, particularly with regards to growing anti-American sentiments abroad. Instead of attacking European sensibilities and demanding apologies and concessions -- as Bush and, apparently, Hannity would do -- Obama sought to meet the audience in the middle: America has made mistakes, as has Europe, but we must concentrate on our similarities, not our differences.

Obama made the comments of a statesman, of a diplomat, of a leader. Also, Obama called out Europe on growing anti-Americanism -- i.e., the President defended us abroad. Finally, Obama showed more class than Bush and Hannity could ever muster.